Review: Truth or Dare by Non Pratt

Claire Casey hates being the centre of attention. But if it means getting Sef Malik to notice her, it’s a risk she’s happy to take. Sef is prepared to do anything to help his recently disabled brother. But this means putting Claire’s love – and life – on the line. Because when you’re willing to risk everything, what is there left to lose?

Image via Goodreads

What I liked:

This book is very much a recent and relevant book. There are mentions of You Tube and Facebook dotted across the story, which is fantastic to see. So many books don’t reference that teens spend a lot of time online, and Truth or Dare isn’t afraid to shy away from it.

The importance of family in this book is huge. I really loved that aspect. Who among us can’t say when a member of their family is ill, we won’t do anything in our power to help them?

There are some great lessons here about asexuality and how to (and how not to) react to the revelation that a friend is asexual. There’s also some great talk about respect and consent that need to be talked about in the wider world.

What I didn’t like:

I had some pretty serious reservations about Claire and Sef being together. I had a bad feeling about the origins of their relationship and it turned out, I was right. I didn’t spend any of the book rooting for them to be together, and I was most displeased with the ending.

I felt Claire at times to be a little naive.

Out of five:

Three and a half. I loved the story and its dual narrative (I was more of a fan of truth than dare), but the mismatch of Claire and Sef unfortunately didn’t please me much.